Skip to main content

Rodney Alcala: California Crime Spree

California Crime Spree


As we know, Rodney Alcala committed several different crimes in three states going unnoticed. But, he committed the most murders in California which is known as his "California Crime Spree" where he killed over 100 women/people. 

When Rodney changed his name to John Berger, he went unnoticed as his true identity but as time went on, authorities kept up and used his fake name on the most wanted list. He became a camp councilor at a drama and arts school for girls but the campers caught on and realized he was John Berger, the murderer. He was arrested at the camp.

While he was arrested in California, the authorities were eager to charge him with Tali Shapiros assault but her family had moved so they didn't charge him. While Rodney was in California, he was charged with everything he had done in the past, which put the biggest indent in his charges which he had slipped through before. He had a deal to be charged as a sex offender and child molestation with lesser charges and he took it.  After this charge, he received one year to life and then got released even though the authorities knew what he did to Tali Shapiro. 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Rodney Alcala: Ellen Hoover Deep Dive

Ellen Hoover's Story   In 2012, Rodney Alcala was sent back to New York after being indicted for the 1977 murder of the 23 year old musician, Ellen Hoover.   " Ellen was a very dear college friend. We roomed together for some time. …She never confused what she had with who she was." said Anita Feinberg Ellen Hoover came from a very wealthy family and her father owned a famous Hollywood Night Club. When she went missing in NYC after a few days,  her family was so prominient in life that her missing person story became front page on the news. A detective was hired andf they recieved many calls and clues which led them to her apartment.  An especially important clue in her apartment being that she had a meeting with "John Berger" on her calendar marked off the day she went missing. "John Berger" being the name rodney alcala claimed when he escaped to New York.  Ellen Hoover's body wasn't found until a year later, buried on the grounds of Phelps Me...

Rodney Alcala: Tali Shapiro Deep Dive

This story starts in 1968 when a motorist named Donald Haines called the police after witnessing an innocent Tali Shapiro being lured into a strange mans apartment. Witnesses also told authorities that they saw Alcala following the 8 year old girl in his beige colored car with no license plate then she got into the car. What wasn't witnessed was the part where Alcala kidnapped, beat, and raped her nearly to death.  When Shapiro was found by the authorities she was in a pool of her own blood and was in a coma for 32 days. 

Rodney Alcala: Entire criminal History

Entire Criminal History After Rodney Alcala fled California, he had his first major assault. In 1968, the year he graduated from UCLA, Rodney met a young girl named Tali Shapiro. Long story short, Alcala beat her so badly that when the police found her alone, she was in a pool of her own blood with her heart barley beating. In 1969, Alcala got put on Californias most wanted crime list after gathering enough evidence to conclude that Rodney was their guy.  After fleeing California, he ran to NYC and enrolled in NYU and created the fake name of "John Berger". While attending NYU and completely dodging the Shapiro case, Alcala met a flight attendant named Cornelia Crilley. She was found in her apartment dead in 1971, raped and beaten. After her murder, Rodney wasn't even a suspect. In 2010 ,  Orange County jury convicted Alcala of five counts of first-degree murder and he was sentenced to death for the killing of Samsoe as well as the 1977 deaths of 18-year-old Jill Barcomb ...